The Seattle Mariners ended April with a 16-11 overall record which was good enough to finish a half game above the Los Angeles Angels for second place in the AL West.

What seems to be the case though is a majority of fans are more focused on the team’s off-the-field decisions, rather than their on-the-field success.

The decision by the Mariners to send down Guillermo Heredia and let Ichiro stay on the roster was a baffling move to say the least. Heredia provides electricity, impact and playmaker ability. Ichiro has reached the end of his career.

However, fans are taking the move to the absolute extreme. The Mariners still finished five games over .500 and having Guillermo Heredia on the team would not have had an impact on that.

In this situation, General Manager Jerry Dipoto is not getting enough credit for what he has been able to put together on the team.

Dipoto managed to add a lead-off hitter, Dee Gordon, that can get on base, steal a base and open up the scoring early in any game. In 2016 Dipoto also acquired Jean Segura and Mitch Haniger, two players that are making a huge impact on our whole team’s production. Segura leads the team with nine doubles, and is tied with Haniger for the most hits on the team at 34. Haniger is tied for the most home runs in the MLB with 10, and leads the team with 27 runs batted in.

This is all while keeping the core 3-4-5 of the lineup in Robinson Cano, Nelson Cruz and Kyle Seager. Cano and Cruz are also hitting over .300, and Kyle Seager finally broke his April curse and had a big month, hitting four home runs and 15 RBIs.

After all the uproar over the move to keep Ichiro on the team, the Seattle Mariners did just fine, and they will continue to play good into May.